Stroke and Brain Injury Rehabilitation

People who have suffered a stroke or traumatic brain injury need care both in the short- and long-term. Stroke and brain injury rehabilitation can be included as part of an overall treatment plan to help speed recovery as well as improve your quality of life. At The University of Kansas Health System, our stroke rehabilitation program addresses physical, cognitive and overall functional recovery in both inpatient and outpatient settings.

The goal of neurorehabilitation is to retrain your brain so you can relearn skills affected by your stroke or brain injury. Because a stroke or brain injury affects each individual differently, rehabilitation specifics vary widely.

Multidisciplinary specialists – including physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech language pathologists, rehabilitation nurses, rehabilitation neuropsychologists as well as physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians – work together to provide an individualized treatment plan.

Our goal is to improve quality of life by working to restore a range of daily living functions:

• Mobility
• Speech
• Swallowing
• Independence in activities

Anyone who struggles with daily living and everyday tasks following a stroke or brain injury can benefit from rehabilitation services. Rehabilitation after stroke or brain injury is an important part of the recovery journey.

Creating a rehabilitation program is an individualized process that's customized to each person, depending on the way their stroke or brain injury has affected them. Services typically include a combination of both cognitive and physical rehabilitation exercises. Starting rehabilitation soon after a stroke or brain injury occurs is integral to regaining a maximum level of independence.

Most people start out receiving inpatient rehabilitation services. Then, as their symptoms improve, they can transition back to living independently while continuing with outpatient stroke rehabilitation services.

Rehabilitation services are considered essential after a stroke or traumatic brain injury to regain lost abilities, especially during the initial recovery stage. However, the severity of the stroke or injury and any resulting complications will have an impact on overall recovery. Research indicates that those people who participate in a dedicated stroke rehabilitation program make greater gains during recovery than those who don't receive stroke rehabilitation.